KLEI gZero3 interconnect Cable Review
- See http://www.kleinnovations.com/ for specifics on their design philosophy and product line-up.
In my defence, KLE Innovations products are just that good — period!
- And they seem to like what I have to say about their products, so they keep sending me stuff to review
BUT: As it states in the header of this site.
- I have NO affiliation to the products or companies mentioned on these pages. The products mentioned are those that I have used over time and found to perform very well.
So, My KLE Innovations journey so far...
I have tried the KLEI Copper®Harmony RCA Plug, the KLEI Silver®Harmony RCA Plug and the KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cable all from KLE Innovations...
- The KLEI Copper®Harmony RCA Plug was installed on my Stager Solid Silver interconnects and proved to be a much better performer than the previously installed Eichmann Silver Bullet RCA's.
- The KLEI Silver®Harmony RCA Plug again proved to noticeably better across the board than the KLEI Copper®Harmony RCA Plug. The RCA plugs were installed on identical interconnect cables, therefore any performance improvements were solely down to the actual RCA connectors themselves.
- The KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cable was a welcome break from the RCA battle, mainly because there was no soldering of RCA plugs involved. Despite an initial concern over the small gauge of the cables, they proved to be outstanding and significantly better performers than the Van den Hul D-352 that had been my only choice for many years.
I identified some aspects of the KLEI “cable science" in the KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cable Review, but to recap the approach of KLE Innovations Design Team, the following applies to their entire range of cable products, including power cables (hopefully coming soon)...
- Their Goal: “The KLEI gZero architecture dynamically works to maintain a zero voltage Ground state”
- Their approach: In accordance with KL’s Signal/Ground Formula, the KLEI gZero architecture is comprised of hand wound conductors, and implemented in a manner to dynamically enhance electron flow in the Signal conductor, without the use of electronic components”
- The Result: “This has the effect of protecting the signal conductor from ground induced capacitive and inductive reactance, which facilitates smooth uninterrupted signal flow from one component to another, effectively isolating them and allowing them to perform their task without interference.”
The KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cables utilizes the KLEI Silver®Harmony RCA Plugs, so this particular review should be all about the actual cable used. However, the KLEI cable and plug architectures are linked (of course) and the two approaches are designed to actually augment each other’s performance abilities.
That doesn't prevent the KLEI Harmony®Plug range of RCA's from doing a significantly better job than conventional RCA's on standard cables, they just happen to perform better on their own cables.
So without further ado...
The KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cable differentiates itself from other brands of cables currently on the market by the unique look of the Silver®Harmony RCA plugs.
It appears the cables are intended to be connected in a specific direction (probably due to their architecture), which is indicated by a small label with arrows indicating the direction i.e. the end the arrows point to is intended to be connected to the target component.
Keith Louis (aka KL) had advised that since this set of cables had gone through a factory “burn-in” and would only require about 24 hours to "settle-in", however, connecting one or both of the cables in the opposite direction would require that 150-200 hour burn-in process be repeated for the "cable set" before they sound their optimum.
Just like a kid with a new toy, I seldom start the burn-in process and just walk away - I like to have that "sneak peek" of what is to come.
- The one thing that stood out immediately was how deep the bass line was (and it got better and more controlled over time), but the high end extension, resolution and dynamics were already as good as the KLEI Silver®Harmony RCA plug on my Stager Silver Solids after their burn-in had completed.
With the cables well broken in I wanted to hear exactly what had happened to the bass extension following the burn-in period. For that I enlisted a couple of my favourite Pipe organ tracks.
The first track was Undring, from the album HarmOrgan, by Sigmund Groven and Iver Kleive. It's beginning passage featuring just the harmonica playing in the church where the organ was situated, allows you to appreciate the delicate upper and mid frequency details and harmonics these cables bring to the performance. When the pipe organ kicks in, it is then that a full range speaker can really bring the complete performance into the listening room.
Not only had the bass extended even lower than my initial sneak peek, there was a very controlled presentation that bordered on a "seismic event". The organ was now situated further back in the image and due to improved clarity, the harmonica was much more distinct and a little further forward, which contributed to a much more spacious performance.
The second pipe organ track, mention in other reviews here, is by Widor, Organ Symphony #5 in F Minor. Op42/1-6 Toccata: Allegro from the album Hear the Light on Phillips, performed by Daniel Chorzempa.
My comments made in the previous review pertaining to this track i.e. "reached into the depths, to bass levels I have never before heard, to the highest frequencies a pipe organ can reach, with a clarity that allowed the extremely complex layers of the many pipes in play to be clearly heard" held true, but there was even more control in the presentation of the bass line, with very low frequency details that had me believing the massive pipes of the organ were about to shake themselves loose.
The dynamics these cables brought to the performance on this track are superb. They also provide significantly better presentation of micro details that contribute to the venue acoustics, which project even further into the listening room.
One of my favourite female artists is Norah Jones, mainly for her soft vocals that has a very whispery presentation, but also for the sometimes quirky arrangements that adds a distinct interest to her music.
It was during a more casual listening session that I became very aware of a second harmony that was now distinctly "Norah". Prior to this, it had simply been a vocalist singing in harmony. This was just another indication of the resolving abilities of the KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cable.
SIDEBAR: Gauging Neutrality
- When auditioning products, I use orchestral tracks to gauge their neutrality, since I am quite familiar with the sound from attending live concerts and also having first hand exposure to several of the instruments used.
- Orchestras always seem to have a very balanced sound that allows me to judge whether a product is adding colour and the one thing that has impressed me with all of the KLEI products to date, is that they are all very neutral and do not add colour to the performance.
- Attempting to judge neutrality while listening to Pop, Rock, and R & B is a little more difficult, primarily because of the coloration added by the sound processing that is applied in the studio.
- So, once I am able to assess the amount of colouration the component under review adds to the performance, I proceed to the other genres.
On selecting tracks from other genres, I am often amazed with the changes that can occur in a track due to the complexity of sound engineering applied.
Tracks like Not Over You, from the album Sweeter, by Gavin Degraw, really highlights the articulate and dynamic nature of the KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cable. Providing some extremely crisp punch and very nice deep bass control, which with lessor cables might otherwise sound less dynamic and bloated
Another track I've mentioned in other reviews is Precious, from the album Diva by Annie Lennox. The crispness in Annie's voice is superb and the depth and control of the bass line showcases the details at both ends of the audio spectrum that the KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cable can bring to a system.
Is that it? - you listened to just four tracks?
- And then some - I listened to over 60 tracks across all genres over several days, both digital and analogue
- These four displayed the most extreme improvements in my system and highlight how these cables “Kicked Butt”
In summary..,
- Orchestral tracks presented the most spacious performances - too numerous to mention
- Vocal tracks definitely carried more emotion - like Norah Jones, Christy Baron, Selena Jones, Diana Krall etc…
- Jazz tracks highlighted their upper register dexterity of the plethora of percussion elements like cymbals, triangles, drums, tambourines etc..
- Pop, Rock and R&B demonstrated their amazing control in presenting the many textures present in bass lines e.g. as on one favourite album SO, by Peter Gabriel.
So just how good are the KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cables?
Well, my system has undergone several changes in the last couple of months and each change has improved the performance. They include upgrades to power cables, interconnect cables and speaker cables, but no changes were made to the components.
The power cable changes allow the components to perform at their peak abilities and the speaker cable changes allow the subtle details brought to the system by the interconnect cables to be quite discernible.
The KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cables will change the sound of your system, but they are not adding colour, they are allowing the the music, as recorded, to come through.
- On some tracks the bass line may at first sound thinner, but listen for those details. On other tracks the bass line will sound rich and controlled, but never bloated.
- High frequency details may sound more edgy on pop and rock (the intent of the sound engineer perhaps), but on classical, those violin runs to the upper register are superbly smooth
- And vocals can be as edgy as Annie Lennox or creamy smooth like Norah Jones
Will buying a pair of KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cables take your system to its peak level of performance excellence never before experienced?
- Only if the rest of your cables are capable of performing to the same level! But you can be certain that the KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cables are one of the very best performing "components" in your audio chain and move on to upgrading other items.
CONCLUSIONS...
The KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cables perform to the highest level I've experienced to date, providing an articulate, dynamic, spacious and believable performance. They are also warmer, fuller and go deeper into the bass register than the previous cables by a discernible amount.
After listening to the KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cables for several days I found I had become "accustomed" to the new sound. So I switched back to the Stager Silver Solids with the Copper®Harmony RCA's.
The differences were quite discernible in that the performance had a smaller image, less dynamics, fewer details etc... etc... But the overall "tone" of the performance remains unchanged.
Switching up to the Stager Silver Solids with the KLEI Silver®Harmony RCA's improved on these aspects of the performance almost to the level of the KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cable, but failed to capture that “emotion”
Removing the KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cables from my system was definitely a case of...
“Not realizing what you have - until it's gone".
So why did I purchase the KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cables?
They are excellent performers that allows my system to convey a very dynamic and controlled performance with exceptional clarity and fullness.
The KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cables allow my source components to perform to their peek abilities. However, should I decide to make a component upgrade, I'm confident that the abilities of the KLEI gZero3 Interconnect cables will exceed that of many of the components I may consider.
That's why I bought them! - It's called — "Future Proofing”.
PRODUCT UPDATE NOTICE:
The KLEI gZero3 Interconnect now utilizes the latest advances in KLEI gZero Architecture/Technology
Providing significant improvements in performance.
For an indication of the improvements achieved on other models please see...
KLEI gZero6, gZero10 and gZero20 IC Product Update.
A highly recommended product!
KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cable Review
Flush with that new found success of the KLEI Harmony®Plug products, the KLEI team has now focused their talents on the various issues associated to the cables within an audio system and developed a whole new set of design principles aimed to resolve them.
So What Are The Issues?
I have tinkered with cables for many years and had my own set of “beliefs”, but little did I know that I was about to get “schooled” at a “layman’s level” in the issues associated with conventional cable design.
When you have two (or more) insulated conductors side by side, i.e. as in most “conventional” cable designs, the following issues can arise, resulting in the introduction of noise within the cable’s internal conductors...
- When an AC voltage is applied to one conductor, electrical "noise" will be induced into the surrounding conductor(s) - that's how transformers work.
- two adjacent cables will experience reactive/EMF/EF effects due to the cable's inductance and capacitance which varies with frequency, which results in "noise" into the adjacent conductors.
- long straight wires are prone to RF/EMF/EF effects from external sources – like an antenna
- there is also "ground noise" which is introduced by the actual components attached to the cable.
Now - it is common knowledge in audio circles that cables should not be closely aligned in parallel with other cables and if a cable needs to cross another, it should be preferably at right angles.
PLEASE NOTE: If you “harness” your cables together with twist-ties you are degrading performance!
And yet, many of the interconnect cables, speaker cables and power cables we commonly use contain two or more conductors in parallel inside an outer sheathing that compresses them together, which intensifies the effect further.
But the team at KLEI has come up with a very different approach…
Their Goal: “The KLEI gZero architecture dynamically works to maintain a zero voltage Ground state”
Their approach: “In accordance with KL’s Signal/Ground Formula, the KLEI gZero architecture is comprised of hand wound conductors, and implemented in a manner to dynamically enhance electron flow in the Signal conductor, without the use of electronic components”
The Result: “This has the effect of protecting the signal conductor from ground induced capacitive and inductive reactance, which facilitates smooth uninterrupted signal flow from one component to another, effectively isolating them and allowing them to perform their task without interference.”
And so, the KLEI gZero architecture was born!
At this point I am going to refer you to their web site for complete details about this revolutionary new approach :
http://www.kleinnovations.com/
Enough already! – Get on with the cable review…
OK, so I received an email from Keith Louis Eichmann (aka KL) asking if I’d like to review two of their cables, the KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cables and the KLEI gZero3 Interconnect.
Note: the KLEI gZero3 interconnects will be reviewed separately
After what seemed like a very long “postal interlude” the cables arrived at the postal station and upon pickup, the package itself was a little disappointing, in that it was not as heavy or as large as I was expecting. My own speaker cables are a hefty 10 gauge with a dense high tech sheathing that weighs a few pounds and would require a significantly larger shipping envelope.
Perhaps they forgot to enclose the speaker cables? Did they send a shorter pair of speaker cables by mistake?
Nope – both sets of cables were enclosed in a very nice red satin bag (see photo below), a 3 meter pair of KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cables (which are very “skinny” cables) and a 1 meter pair of KLEI gZero3 interconnects.
My “skinny cable phobia” was the result of an encounter several years ago with a skinny cable that I found had superb mid and upper performance, but was seriously lacking in the area of a deep controlled bass.
Not to be put off by the diminutive diameter of the KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cable, I connected them to the amp, making sure that the end with the labels with printed arrows were connected to the speakers.
To address my “skinny cable phobia” I deliberately selected the track Más, from the album Mi Plan by Nellie Furtado, which has some of the deepest synth work in my collection and another track from the same album, Vacación, which has a powerful and very deep bass line.
To my amazement, my fears of a presentation lacking in fullness and depth, were immediately put to rest by an amazingly detailed and complete reproduction of two very demanding tracks. Although, I initially thought they appeared a little thinner sounding, but after a couple of replays it was evident that the bass line was in fact less bloated than before, but actually contained more detail.
KL had advised me that the cables had undergone a factory “burn-in” so they should be sounding their best after about 24 hours.
NOTE: Since the factory burn-in is not normally applied to the KLEI gZero2 level of speaker cable, I would generally allow approximately 150-200 hours of use to complete this process.
As the burn-in process progressed I noticed a deepening of the bass presentation, but still very controlled and getting more detailed.
So, How Good Are They?…
With my “skinny cable phobia” still not quite put to rest, I selected a favourite pipe organ track by Widor, Organ Symphony #5 in F Minor. Op42/1-6 Toccata: Allegro from the album Hear the Light on Phillips, performed by Daniel Chorzempa.
The sound engineering on this track is superb and if any one track could allay my phobia it would be this one. It contains the full gamut of the sensory attributes that audiophiles use to quantify a performance.
Well, my phobia has now been completely laid to rest. On this one track alone the KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cables accomplished an extremely articulate presentation that reached into the depths, to bass levels I have never before heard, to the highest frequencies a pipe organ can reach, with a clarity that allowed the extremely complex layers of the many pipes in play to be clearly heard.
Another very well engineered track that I thought might indicate the imaging prowess of the KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cables is the Violin Concerto no. 4 in D major KV 218 - Allegro by Marianne Thorsen / Trondheim Solistene. The concert hall in which this track was recorded already captivated me with my previous cables, in that it has a realism often not quite matched in many other recordings. Also, the performance is exquisitely delicate in the quiet sections coupled with some superbly vigorous bowing to round out a very passionate performance full of emotion.
Not only were the KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cables able to convey the subtle nuances of this performance with amazing dexterity, they were able to expand the image such that the listener is enveloped completely within the venue, which allowed the full emotion of the piece to be experienced. But the one thing that really stood out for me was the amazing smoothness of the violin’s upper register notes.
It turns out that the effect of being “enveloped in the venue acoustics” was not a trait confined to the one track above. Pretty much any well engineered track will be presented in a similar manner.
Now, my review process can be quite intermittent – I grab “moments” throughout the review period, selecting tracks that I believe might feature a passage that will highlight a particular aspect of performance with a component or cable. I find that taking this approach prevents me from becoming fatigued or complacent.
Between those moments I often select albums just for background music as I tend to the various “chores of daily life”.
One album I often select for background music is Greatest Hits from Fleetwood Mac. I like the pace, it’s easy listening and a more mellow kind of sing-along experience. But I had never really considered it to have stunning sound engineering and as such, I have never selected any tracks from it during an evaluation.
On one particular day, I started the album playing and walked away to tend to some chores. Then, something in the music started to grab my attention, so I returned to my system and listened more intently. To my complete surprise the engineering on this album is actually not too shabby at all. I skipped ahead to a few favourite tracks and noticed details that were now being clearly conveyed in a spacious image that surprised me completely. The KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cables really bring out the very best in a musical presentation, even on older albums.
So are there any drawbacks?…
Well definitely not from a performance aspect.
The set I reviewed came terminated with banana plugs (the recommended option), but spade terminations can be accommodated if requested by the customer at the time of ordering.
However, a couple of aspects of these cables that did come to light during a few emails with KL is that he recommends:
a maximum length of 5 meters, but 2.5 or 3 meters is their preferred length and they start at 2 meters long.
KL further recommends, that to ensure optimum performance, that the audio systems Speaker impedance, especially the average, needs to be >3ohms and that the Speaker Sensitivity needs to be >83db, but as KL mentioned, these are his recommendations.
Which brings me to the pricing…
The RRP of the KLEI KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cables is AUD$350 per 2.0 m plus $50 per additional 0.5m
Whoa! - that ain’t your Grandpa’s table-lamp wire is it! - Nope, and it doesn’t perform like it either!
Considering the level of performance the KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cables bring to a system, I don’t consider this an outrageous price by any means, especially when compared to many other high-tech speaker cable alternatives costing significantly more.
- I guess, as always, it depends on what you are prepared to pay for performance.
- But in this case it is - exceptional performance!
CONCLUSIONS…
If I had not been asked to review the KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cables and seen them on a shelf in an audio store – I would have passed them by.
Their fit and finish is first class, but they do look more like an interconnect cable than a speaker cable - sorry KL
But being an “Audio Enthusiast”…
It's NOT about “THE LOOK”, it’s all about “THE SOUND!”
Having a pair of KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cables in your system may evoke comments from fellow enthusiasts like “hey - they look cute!” or “shouldn’t they be on a bookshelf speaker?”
That is, until you play them a few of your more demanding tracks – those comments will probably change to “where can I get a set of those”
I have been using Van Den Hul speaker cables for many years and have been very satisfied with their performance and still consider the D-352’s to be a very good speaker cable i.e. within it’s “more conventional” design constructs.
But the design team at KLE Innovations has created a “New Breed”. With bold new designs that challenge conventional cable related “wisdoms” from the past, to bring you some very affordable cabling products that can elevate the performance of even modestly priced systems like my own, to an extraordinary level.
How good are they? - I purchased the KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cables because they are simply…
“too good to pass by”
The KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cables will elevate the performance of your system to a level that other speaker cables fail to achieve.
Something to consider: It is imperative when using products the caliber of the KLEI gZero2 Speaker Cables, that all the other cables in your system (i.e. interconnect and power cables) must be capable of a similar level of performance otherwise the effectiveness of the KLEI gZero2’s will not be fully realized.
A highly recommended product!